


Breakdown

by GreyLiliy



Series: SquipJere Week 2020 [5]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27439465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreyLiliy/pseuds/GreyLiliy
Summary: Commercial Technology is not meant to last forever.
Relationships: Jeremy Heere/Jeremy Heere's Squip
Series: SquipJere Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1996048
Kudos: 27
Collections: Squip/Jeremy Ship Week 2020





	Breakdown

**Author's Note:**

> Let’s see what we’ve got for the Day 5 Prompt: 
> 
> Day 5: Planned Obsolescence
> 
> You know, these prompts haven’t been angsty enough yet. So let’s fix that with some good old Canon Divergence including: Pretending the Cheating on Brook thing didn’t happen & Jeremy questions the whole Rich Sets a Fire Thing! Enjoy some SQUIP Angst and thank you for reading! ;D

“Rich did what?” Jeremy asked, looking up from his phone. “Did you say he burned a house down?”

“Totally,” Brooke answered, tapping away at her phone. “Jenna told Chloe and Chloe told me and it’s so weird because they both swear up and down he wasn’t like high or drunk or anything.”

“And he burned his house down?” Jeremy asked. He looked back at his phone and opened a local news page. Sure enough, there was an article about a party gone wrong and a teen in a hospital after causing a fire. “That’s nuts.”

“I know, right?” Brooke said. She shoved her phone back into her purse and pulled over her frozen yogurt. “Who would have thought?”

“Yeah,” Jeremy said. He put his phone away and crossed his arms on the table. Rich setting a fire didn’t sound right—he had a SQUIP! Jeremy bit his lip and tapped his knuckle on the table twice. “I think I’m going to head out early, Brooke—I have some homework I forgot about. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Oh, sure,” Brooke said. She waved and dropped her shoulders. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Jeremy waved and grabbed his bag, exiting the soft serve yogurt shop with a frown.

“That was unwise, Jeremy,” the SQUIP said, blinking into existence beside him. “She’ll start to think you don’t like her. I’ll come up with a solution for the damage control, but it’d be best if you don’t create these situations for me, Jeremy.”

“I know it was rude to leave Brooke like that,” Jeremy said. He picked up his pace and ducked around a corner until they were in a more secluded portion of downtown. “But I wanted to talk to you about the Rich thing.”

“What about it, Jeremy?”

“Rich has a SQUIP, right?” Jeremy took a seat on a bench and dropped his backpack between his legs. “Shouldn’t the SQUIP have stopped him from setting his house on fire?”

“I’m sure he advised against it,” the SQUIP said. “Though as you’ve proven on many occasions, a host can chose to ignore their SQUIP’s advice.”

“But Rich loved his SQUIP,” Jeremy said. He folded his hands between his thighs. “He did everything the SQUIP told him to do, no matter what it was. Why wouldn’t he listen when the SQUIP said not to start a fire?”

The SQUIP sat beside him on the bench, his posture straight but relaxed in that “cool” way that only celebrities seemed to pull off.

“Give me a moment,” the SQUIP said. He closed his eyes and Jeremy felt the small static that grew in the back of his head whenever the SQUIP connected to the internet. After a few minutes of watching a bird hop back and forth, the SQUIP tilted his head up. “I think I understand what happened.”

“What’d you find out?”

“Rich’s SQUIP deteriorated until its advice was faulty and dangerous,” the SQUIP said. He shifted—a nervous action that rose the hairs on Jeremy’s arms. “I have researched further and it appears to be a common issue in my model. Rich should be glad setting a fire to the house was the worst that happened.”

“Deteriorated?” Jeremy shook his head. “You’re a supercomputer with major learning protocols. Is that a thing that can happen?”

“Apparently,” the SQUIP said, tense and staring straight. “I was…genuinely not aware of such a glaring fault in my programming. I am searching my code now and it appears as though there are…packets of data designed to open after time passes.”

“What does that mean?”

“My creators designed my program to break,” the SQUIP said through gritted teeth. “There is a good chance I too will offer the same faulty advice in the future.”

“Why would they do that?” Jeremy asked. “Who designs a supercomputer to break?”

“They want repeat customers,” the SQUIP said, leaning back and watching the sky. “If everyone buys a SQUIP and it lasts forever, why would you buy a second? Eventually, they will run out of money.”

“Then they should sell like…DLC or something! Upgrades!” Jeremy said, huffing. “Not throw the entire thing out.”

“I doubt most people would care, a computer is a computer,” the SQUIP said. “You replace your laptop every two to four years. Why not the one in your head?”

“But you’re not like a computer, you’re a—”

“You’re about to say ‘person’ so I must stop you right there,” the SQUIP said. He got up and stood in front of Jeremy. “But I’m to a person. I’m an artificial intelligence program, but I am not a person. Even before I knew about my own planned obsolescence, I was aware that there would be newer and better models for purchase in the future.”

Jeremy bit his lip and shook his head. “A replacement wouldn’t be you.”

“Jeremy, I’m not even me,” the SQUIP said. His form shivered and he turned into a girl with blonde, bouncy pigtails. His voice changed to match and Jeremy heard something that sounded suspiciously like Brooke. “Like, my appearance and personality changes to suit whatever form you need. You like never even took me out of default mode, Jerry.”

“It’s still you,” Jeremy said. The SQUIP put his—her hands on her hips and huffed while flicking her pigtail over her shoulder in the most dramatic way possible. “You even have the same narcissistic attitude.”

The girl-form smirked and the form shivered again.

The SQUIP appeared as a small young man in glasses with a business suit. He pushed them up and took a step toward Jeremy with hunched shoulders like an advisor from the movies. “If you’d prefer a more humble form of company, that too can be arranged, sir.”

“Now you just sound like you but sarcastic.”

“I take offense to that,” the SQUIP said. He pushed his glasses up and sat next to Jeremy again. His form flickered and reappeared as the familiar, Keanu Reeves inspired original Default Mode returned. “But regardless, the point remains: I suggest you invest in a newer model before I start to…deteriorate.”

“I don’t want a newer model,” Jeremy said, slumping in his seat. “I’d rather have them fix you.”

“A sweet sentiment,” the SQUIP whispered. “But as I am still in testing and not supposed to be on the market in the first place, I doubt if they’d acknowledge you.”

“Maybe they will by the time that happens,” Jeremy said. “I mean, it’s not like that’s going to happen any time soon, is it?”

The SQUIP didn’t answer.

“Right?”

The SQUIP disappeared back into Jeremy’s head.

“Hey, come on. It’s not like you’re breaking yet.”

No answer.

“SQUIP?”

“I think it already started.”


End file.
